Campus News

UB ‘taking it to the next level,’ Tripathi reports in university address

President Satish K. Tripathi reviewed the accomplishments of the past year and talked about ways "Realizing UB 2020" will build on the university's momentum in his annual State of the University Address. Photo: Douglas Levere

By JOHN DELLACONTRADA

“Our first concern must be for the quality and innovation of the education we are providing to our students.”

President Satish K. Tripathi

President Satish K. Tripathi delivered his annual State of the
University Address Friday, congratulating faculty, staff and
students for their numerous accomplishments in the 2012-13 academic
year and outlining new and ongoing efforts contributing to a
growing momentum at UB and in Buffalo.

“There is tangible excitement building around what
we’re doing at UB. And that is thanks in large part to your
achievements,” Tripathi told the audience in UB’s
Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall. “Because of your efforts,
the University at Buffalo is establishing itself as one of the
world’s great research universities.”

Tripathi began his speech by describing the pride and excitement
generated by President Obama’s visit to UB on the first day
of the fall semester. Obama’s policy address at UB focused on
issues “very close to UB’s heart … access and
affordability and graduation rates,” Tripathi said.

“These are important issues, to be sure. But we are not
talking enough about what happens in the vast space in between
entering and exiting higher education. We need to be talking more
about the college experience itself.

“Our first concern must be for the quality and innovation
of the education we are providing to our students,” he
said.

Creating a learning environment that prepares students to be
leaders in this world, Tripathi said, is one of three
interconnected goals the university must focus on to achieve its
mission of “changing the world for the better through our
ideas and our actions.” The university also will continue to
focus on advancing research that responds to the century’s
critical issues and engaging more effectively with local and global
communities, he said.

“In pursuit of these goals, we have focused on strategic
investments in faculty excellence, in the student experience and in
the physical environment that supports excellence,” he
said.

Tripathi pointed to Tuesday’s groundbreaking for the new
medical school in downtown Buffalo as a major milestone in pursuit
of these goals; one that “represents a bold new era for our
university and our region.” He also noted that the university
in the past year welcomed 180 new staff and 150 new full-time
faculty, including the largest group of new tenure-track faculty in
decades.

A significant portion of Tripathi’s talk focused on ways
“Realizing UB 2020”—the next evolution of the UB
2020 vision led by Provost Charles Zukoski—will build upon
the university’s momentum, “taking it to the next
level.” The undergraduate student experience will be a
major focus of this effort, Tripathi said.

“Our goal is to provide current and future students with a
rigorous, relevant education that prepares them to lead in their
communities as critical thinkers, as collaborators in responding to
complex problems and as citizens of the world who have learned from
many cultures and life experiences.”

The university will transform its curricula, Tripathi said, so
that all students gain significant global experience, participate
in experiential learning and complete a capstone project.
“Teams of faculty and staff are working now to implement
these major shifts across the curricula,” he said.

Through the Realizing UB 2020 plan, the university will apply
“a thematic approach to how we organize our curriculum,
pursue research and approach challenges.” These themes, he
said, are environment, health, humanity, innovation and
justice.

“This thematic approach is about enhancing how our
students and faculty engage with broadly defined social
challenges,” Tripathi said. “These five themes build on
and advance our strategic strengths in a university-wide
context—not only in terms of interdisciplinary research, but
across all aspects of the university, from campus operations
to our engagement with our communities.”

As an example, a RENEW institute will be launched to address a
broad range of scientific, political and social issues related to
energy, water and the environment. “UB has great faculty
capacity in a wide array of fields that intersect with these
issues, from environmental engineering, to law and management, to
public health,” Tripathi said.

A video highlighting
the university’s achievements over the past year preceded
Tripathi’s address. His address touched on some of these
achievements. Among them:

More than 7,200 people were on hand in Alumni Arena as Obama
unveiled his ambitious plan for ensuring greater access to higher
education.

Over the summer, the university celebrated the grand opening of
the new home for the Educational Opportunity Center—the sixth
building opening on the university’s three campuses in the
past two years.

UB’s student and faculty entrepreneurs and its business
incubators are achieving international recognition.

The university’s innovative use of alternative energies
and green design across its campuses, and introduction of hands-on
learning opportunities like those in the new undergraduate
Sustainability Academy.

Students and faculty earned several international awards and
honors, such as Goldwater, National Science Foundation and
Fulbright scholarships, and fellowships with American Association
for the Advancement of Science and the American Mathematical
Association.

UB now has the largest total enrollment in UB history,
including the largest international enrollment.

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